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GOALBALL ATHLETES´ LIFE HISTORY
Keywords: Goalball, Life Stories, Athletes, Visual Impairment.
The adapted sports have been increasing over the years, these sports already have one of the biggest events for people with a disability which is call Paralympic Games. One of the sports presents in
this event is Goalball whose main factor is the only sport designed for people with disabilities, in this case with visual disabilities, other sports are modified and/or adapted for players and their
disability.
General objective of this research was to analyze the life stories of Goalball athletes, and the methodology was a descriptive and exploratory research and field analysis, where we did a standardized
questionnaire with 19 open and closed questions concerning the life of some Santa Catarina Association team athletes Adapted Sports ( ACESA ) of Florianópolis, SC. All athletes were invited to
participate in the study but only three male athletes were part of this questionnaire.
The Goalball could be a collective game, and help in a better social life help, serving as an improvement in the life of those who practice it, because through this sport they can show everyone that
they are the same as FJ quotes "he brought benefits to society, because just to seeing the smile on their faces, knowing that they see us doing a sport they are happy and that for me is a great
benefit [ ... ] ".
In addition to the social part of this sport, it assists in spatial sense, hearing, motor development , physical and perceptive, PH quotes the benefit brought to his life 'The Goalball helped me on
my hearing, orientation, helped me in living, because it is a team sport [...]'. Thus, the Goalball brings benefits to those who practice it and those life stories prove that people seek in the sport
to overcome their feelings.
It was found that this sport is important in the lives of athletes as it helps in social life providing different livings, team interaction, closer relationship with other athletes, the spatial
concept, etc., and also in physical and motor life. The participation of athletes on this research was fundamental because they reported the benefits of Goalball in their lives.
Therefore, the survey was satisfactory, because we had the opportunity to know the athletes better, and not only helping my research, bringing facts of their lives but also showing me that is no
problem that I cannot overcome.